


Call of the Void

by PerpetuallyExhausted



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Ethan-Centric, Fantasy AU, Superhero AU (kind of), magic users AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-20 08:17:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14256771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerpetuallyExhausted/pseuds/PerpetuallyExhausted
Summary: Those who master the Arcane are considered wise beyond belief. Few have managed, even within the Horsemen, a shadowy organization of powerful Arcanists who patrol the streets and keep Arcane crime to a minimum. Use of the Arcane does come with one unfortunate drawback.Manipulation of the real world means manipulation of the void.And the more you manipulate the void, the more it manipulates you.





	Call of the Void

Chapter One

It was, as any old storybook would call it, a dark and stormy night. Powerful gusts of wind sent tree branches crashing and flailing, leaves torn from their hold and whipped away into the night. Clouds rolled across the sky, blotting out the moon and stars, illuminated blue and purple with flashes of lightning. Rain fell in sheets almost too thick to see through, pounding the ground and flooding the forest floor. It was nights like these that really made Ethan want to re-think his choice of career.  


_I could be at home._ Water squelched underfoot as he walked, splattering mud onto his legs. _Could be asleep. Could be completely dead to the world right now, but no! I just_ HAD _to be assigned the assassination._ He kicked through a puddle, sending water flying every which way. _And the dude just_ HAD _to seek refuge from the Domek family._ Lightning flashed, illuminating the trees around him. _Who just_ HAVE _to live on a family compound, miles from civilization, in the middle of the goddamn woods. Yup, lucky me!_  


The trees around him began to thin out, and Ethan squinted, trying to see through the rain. Ahead, a house loomed out of the darkness, standing tall against the trees. Lightning flashed once again, highlighting the spires on the roof.  


_And of course the compound can’t just be a normal compound. Nope, not for me! Instead I get Stabbyface McGee in his murder castle!_ Ethan scowled. This entire mission was playing out like some bad Scooby-Doo episode.  


A rough stone wall flanked the compound on all sides. From where he was standing, Ethan could see three buildings, two smaller houses and the significantly larger main house, complete with towers, spires, and gargoyles. It looked like the kind of place Dracula would vacation at over the summer.  


Slowly, Ethan slunk back into the trees, trying to blend into the forest. He hadn’t exactly been quiet on the hike up. Now though, the real mission was starting. This was when things got serious.  


The wind shifted for a moment, sending horizontal sheets of rain straight into Ethan’s face. It beat against his mask, dripping down the sculpted filigree and somehow still managing to get into his eyes. He wiped at it crossly. While the masks were usually a good thing (you know, the whole “keep the world from known your secret identity” issue), the really didn’t hold up well in the rain.  


The wind shifted again, this time sending the rain at the side of his head. Ethan gritted his teeth. This was starting to get annoying. In his mind he reached out to the wind, visualizing it. Then, with a twist of his wrist, he changed it, pushing it away, directly at the main house. For a moment, the wind fell still. Then, it began again, angling toward the compound and away from him.  


Ethan crept forward, practically gliding across the ground as he moved, footsteps silent against the soggy earth. No guards currently within sight. That made things easier. He scaled the wall and parched atop it, eyes flitting back and forth beneath the grinning skull of his mask. Still no one. The compound sat silent, the windows on the houses dark, curtains drawn. That was a bit unusual. The Domeks were a very large high profile Arcane family, he had assumed that they would have at least a few guards. He narrowed his eyes. There were several he could think of for the lack of security. Either the Domeks had guards trained in some sort of stealth magick, they thought themselves powerful enough to not need guards, or, and he truly hoped it wasn’t this, they somehow knew he was coming and were prepared for him.  


Ethan hopped down into the compound, landing lightly. Still nothing. No traps activated, no guards bursting out the darkness with weapons trained on him. The only sounds were the thunder, wind, and rain. Slowly, he turned and began to make his way to the main house, keeping careful watch of the world around him as he did. The gardens outside the houses were well kept, and a few homes had suncatchers hung up in the windows. It was obvious that people still lived here. So why risk them? What was going on?  
A light flicked on from within the main house, and Ethan froze, staring up at it. Mentally, he sorted through the blueprints he had memorized of the compound, mind racing. If he was correct, that room belonged to one Agnar Domek, the heir of the Domek family. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the door of the main house opened, and a man stepped out. Ethan analyzed him. Tall, probably late twenties, with short blonde hair and a scar through his left eyebrow. He fit the description in the file perfectly, there was no one this could be other than Agnar Domek. He turned to face Ethan, staring him directly in the eye.  


“What business do the Horsemen have with my family?” His voice was cold and calculating.  


Ethan didn’t move from where he was standing, and didn’t avert his gaze. _Hold your ground._ “Two months ago, a Pale Rider deserted our organization and disappeared without a trace. We recently received evidence that your family is harboring him. I am here to reclaim him.”  


Agnar smiled, an icy, twisted thing. “And do enlighten me, what exactly do you mean by ‘reclaim’?”  


“You know full well what I mean.” Ethan fought to keep his voice monotone. “Should you resist handing him over, you will be considered part of the problem, and will be dealt with as such.”  


If anything, Agnar’s smile simply grew. “An ultimatum? Well, what if I was to tell you that should you set one foot inside that house, you won’t be leaving alive.”  


“And should you choose to kill me, you bring down the wrath of the rest of my organization on your family. Would you really put everyone at risk like that?”  


“Oh, absolutely.” A dagger materialized in Agnar’s hand. “I’ll take any chance I can get to kill more Horsemen.”  


Ethan forced himself not to take a step back. He knew that the Domeks were telumkinetics, but had no idea how advanced their ability was. If every person in that building could materialize weapons out of thin air, he might be under prepared. Still, he kept his voice calm. “I know you have Sutcliffe. Hand him over, and no one gets hurt.”  


Agnar threw the dagger. Instinctively, Ethan twisted his hand, causing a sudden gust of wind to blow it off course. It struck the ground next to him and vanished.  
Ethan lunged at Agnar, grabbing his arm and twisting it backwards as another dagger began to form in his hand. There was a sharp crack, and his arm fell limply to his side, the dagger dispersing into thin air. Agnar hissed in pain, clutching at his broken arm.  


“You’re going to regret that, Horseman.”  


The air around him began to glow blue as thousands of arrows materialized, barbed tips shimmering brightly. Once again, Ethan forced himself not to take a step back. _Shit._  


The arrows flew at him, moving as one. Ethan ducked and covered, trying to protect his chest and throat. Around him the wind whistled and screamed, tearing at the arrows, trying to knock them off course. One embedded itself in his shoulder, another in his leg, and he bit his tongue to keep from crying out. Blood bubbled at his lips, and he coughed and spat, teeth stained red. He clenched his fists and the wind roared louder. He could practically see it now, a translucent mist that whipped and twirled about the house, about the arrows, about Agnar, about everything. He reached out with his mind. And he changed it.  


For a moment, the word fell still.  


The shift was almost instantaneous, and the wind howled, barreling down upon Agnar, littering his body with his own arrows. He collapsed, twitched, and lay still. The arrows dematerialized, and Ethan released his hold on the wind, allowing it to calm. Slowly, Ethan pulled himself to his feet, gritting his teeth in pain. The arrows in his shoulder and leg had vanished with the rest, and now blood was flowing from the wounds, soaking into his clothing and staining. He had no idea if anything important had been hit, but judging from the pain, he could guess that at least one bone in his shoulder had been shattered.  


Ethan trudged past Agnar’s body and made his way into the house. It was beautiful, as far as creepy old Victorian houses went, but he didn’t have time to appreciate the decor. He did make note of the variety of weapons mounted on every wall. Should he have to fight a telumkinetic in here, he was a dead man.  


To his left was an old wooden staircase, presumably leading to the upper stories of the house. The guest room was on the third floor, and was where Sutcliffe was likely to be. He took one step up and abruptly stopped, muffling a cry of pain. _Nope, not gonna work, note to self, arrows to the leg and stairs DO NOT MIX._  
So he couldn’t walk. That left void travel as his most viable option. _Great. Wonderful. At least it’ll let me maintain the element of surprise._  
He stepped off the step, noting that it hurt way less to walk down stairs than it did to walk up, and promptly dropped into the void.  


_The wind outside was nothing to the wind in the void. It deafened him with its shrieks and cries, pushing him back as he staggered forward. The black nothingness of the land pulsated like the organs of a cut-open animal, and shifted with every step he took. In the distance someone cackled, a harsh, shrill sound-_  
He let go and stepped out of the void, materializing right in the middle of the guest room, thoroughly startling Sutcliffe, who leapt to his feet.  


“Ethan-”  


Ethan didn’t give him time to finish. He grabbed Sutcliffe’s wrist. There was a crackle of electricity, and Sutcliffe’s body fell to the floor. With an annoyed mutter, he grabbed Sutcliffe’s bag from the ground and swung it over his good shoulder, then knelt down, took hold of Sutcliffe’s wrist again, and dropped back into the void.  


_The temperature of the void constantly fluctuated, hot, then cold then hot again. Burning, then freezing, then burning, then freezing. Ice gripped his hands as he lugged the body across the wasteland, the cackle in the distance grew closer-_  


He stepped out of the void into the main Horseman lobby, and promptly collapsed. 

***  


_He was standing alone in the void. The wind around him screamed with human voices, and the ground rippled and twisted, forming new shapes, then collapsing, then forming, then collapsing. He tried to take a step, but the void grabbed his leg, pulling him through the ground-_  


_He was falling into the void. Shapes twisted in the clouds around him, shadows flickering, murmuring in a language he couldn’t understand-_  


_He screamed silently, unable to talk, to move, hardly even to think, as a shadow materialized before him, eyes black. It reached out a hand and smiled crookedly._  


_“Hello, Ethan.”_  


***  


Ethan’s head spun. He tried to sit up, then instantly flopped back, regretting the idea. He felt as if he had been shot, then run over with a steam roller, and a headache was pounding behind his eyes.  


“Hey.”  


Even the quiet voice was too much, and Ethan squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the world.  


“I know you’re awake.”  


Ethan grimaced. “Believe me, I wish I wasn’t.” He opened his eyes. “Where am I?”  


“Med bay. You overexerted yourself and passed out.”  


“Figures.” He turned his head to look at the person sitting next to him. “How long has it been?”  


“About two hours. The head doctor said she was willing to let you go once you woke up if you don’t take any missions for the next few weeks.”  


Ethan shifted his shoulder, wincing as pain ran down his arm. “Yeah, don’t think I’d have any other choice. What happened with Sutcliffe?”  


“Death broke his mask and dumped his body out on the street. Should be all over the news in the morning. It doesn’t seem like he actually revealed anything to the Domeks.”  


“Great. Third question, why the hell are you here, Cry?”  


Cry shrugged. “My mission went easier than expected. I got back an hour ago. Death told me to keep an eye on you while you were here. Seems like she didn’t trust you to not void travel away the moment you woke up without telling anyone where you’d gone.”  


“Yeah. I’ve done that before. Freaked out the med staff a bit. What can I say, I’ve got an outside identity to keep up.” Ethan sat up again, finding it significantly easier this time. “Right, well, I’m gone. See ya!” He dropped into the void.  


_The void was silent. The void was still._  


Ethan materialized in his apartment and collapsed into bed, not even bothering to remove his mask. 

The next day was suspiciously normal. He woke up. He ate. He recorded. He edited. He ran errands. Rinse, repeat, for about all of eighteen hours. The next day passed in an even more normal sense. He made up an excuse, saying he was too sick to go out. He recorded. He interacted with fans on twitter. He edited. Life marched on as planned. Until it didn’t. The third day of normality dawned around one in the morning, not with his alarm, but with his phone ringing. A Horseman number was displayed across the screen. Blearily, he answered.  


“Hello?”  


“Your presence is required at headquarters.” He didn’t recognize the voice that had answered, and judging from the formality, they probably didn’t know him personally.  


“What, why? I’ve been put on probation until I recover.”  


“All Pale Horsemen are required to report to headquarters, regardless of current physical or Arcane condition. You will be expected there within a half hour. Void travel is currently off limits. If you void travel in, you will be put under quarantine.” There was a click, and the line went dead.  


Ethan stared at the phone, trying process what had just happened. Quarantine? A pit began to form in his stomach. Void travel always had an element of danger to it, but to put someone in quarantine? The fact that they were calling in all Pale Horsemen, regardless of condition, set him on edge as well. Pale Horsemen were only used for the most dangerous, important, or secretive missions, and rarely worked in groups. Something that required the entire tier was unheard of. He had a bad feeling he knew what this was about. He just hoped he was wrong.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please comment with feedback and criticisms, it's what helps me improve, and I always like hearing what you like and dislike about a chapter. I am very sorry for any formatting issues, this is my first work here and I'm still getting used to everything. Updates may not be regular (life happens, after all) but if you guys like it, I'll try to keep it coming!


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